NEW DELHI, Sept 29: As India and several other nations oppose the EU proposal to impose carbon tax on Indian carriers flying in European airspace, the Airports Authority of India has implemented a series of measures to substantially reduce emission.
In a paper presented at the ongoing International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) general assembly in Montreal, AAI has outlined a series of major initiatives it has taken to check depletion of ozone layer and emissions through improved air navigation service (ANS) procedures and training.
These include route optimisation, upgrading of surveillance infrastructure, upper airspace harmonisation, continuous descent operations, collaborative environmental initiatives and ground efficiency improvement programmes.
The paper, titled ‘Green Initiatives – India’, says there are no financial implications involved in taking these measures and urges the UN body ICAO to encourage other nations to take up similar programmes to reduce emission.
In its opposition to the European Union’s (EU) proposal to tax airlines for emissions, India is also understood to have declined to accept a revised version of the EU Emission Trading System (EU-ETS) under which airlines will be taxed only for the distance they travel inside the EU region.
India had also threatened to impose hefty penalties on European airlines flying into India, as a counter-measure.
Currently, Air India and Jet Airways fly about 80 flights a week to the EU, while European airlines fly about 190 flights a week to India, which could be affected if the dispute over the emissions tax remains unresolved.
The ICAO Assembly is scheduled to take up the emission issue. The Indian delegation led by Civil Aviation Secretary K N Shrivastava, also includes AAI Chairman V P Agrwal, DGCA chief Arun Mishra and Deputy Director General Lalit Gupta.
The AAI paper spoke of straightening of air routes on 93 international and 173 domestic sectors in addition to 32 connector routes. “The connector routes have been implemented to provide better connectivity, flexibility with reduction in contract miles,” the presentation at the ICAO assembly said.
AAI has also implemented the Upper Airspace Harmonisation concept, which included operating multiple sectors of Air Traffic Control from a single centre in Chennai, integration of ten radars and a sophisticated ATS automation system with various advanced support tools and VHF operations.
The integration of radars facilitated direct routing of flights, thereby reducing flight distance and time and consequently saving fuel for the airlines.
The minimum distance between two aircraft was also being reduced through application of radar separation minima, thereby increasing the capacity of airspace.
Similar Upper Airspace Harmonisation of the airspace over Kolkata, Delhi and Mumbai was being planned for execution soon, the AAI presentation to the ICAO said.
On the same lines, the AAI was also working with partners and peer organisations across the Indian Ocean and Arabian Sea region leading an environmental initiative called INSPIRE (The Indian Ocean Strategic Partnership to Reduce Emission), which is a collaborative network, it said. (PTI)
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